A New Kind of Colony
by SparkleHands
Summary: Brandon's team was one of the most successful of any Terran military force. Serving first under commander Raynor, then under the Dominion, he and his team were instrumental in many battles, most importantly, the battle against Amon. Then they were knocked off course on a cleanup mission by a Tal'darim force, sending them into uncharted territory only to find a new strain of Zerg.
1. Chapter 1: Another Colony Destroyed

**New story, one in a new universe but familiar faces. The thing is they're really just the same names so I don't think it should be classified as a crossover. The Zerg in this story will very much resemble a species from a different universe and will share several names and faces but again I don't really think that makes this a crossover. So let's just say that this is going to be interesting. I just hit a burst of inspiration with this so I spent my time on this story rather than my regular. This is more of a preview for now but if people like it I'll work on it more after I finish my current story.**

**Now on with the show!**

….

"That's another hive cluster down," Brandon groaned as he flopped down onto a couch in the lounge aboard The Aegis, the battlecruiser under his girlfriend's command.

"Took you long enough!" Rex called over from a nearby computer console without turning from the screen.

Brandon smirked back to his foster brother, "hey don't blame me!" he called, "wasn't my fault this hive cluster was so resilient."

Rex spun his chair around, "no, but it is your fault that you weren't able to take it down faster. My team was able to take down our Hatch over two days faster than you."

Brandon rolled his eyes, "easy for you to say, Mr. I can pop things with my brain. It's much harder for those of us who have to rely on old fashion technology. You're not the one who has to outmaneuver primal Mutalisks and know exactly when to drop down out of the sky to cover for your team at the same time."

"Why you pilot that damn deathtrap is beyond me," Rex snorted, "you could do perfectly fine in your Thor or Goliath. Hell, you'd be even more useful if you donned your Marauder suit for once and joined me on the ground."

Brandon laughed, "yeah sure, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun!"

Rex glanced back idly at his computer then grinned evilly, "sure, but that doesn't change the fact that you're late, and if you don't check in with Nia right now, there'll be hell to pay."

"Oh shit!" Brandon's eyes widened as he bolted to his feet and started sprinting for the door.

"What did you forget this time?" Shulk sighed dramatically as he pressed himself to the door frame to allow Brandon to pass.

"Oh nothing much," Rex laughed. Brandon's eye twitched but didn't stop to argue with his brother. "Just his girlfriend."

"Ouch," the Ghost winced. The Welsh admiral was known for her incredible battle tactics, having taken down entire fleets with just her flagship. She showed extreme intelligence and unwavering confidence even against the worst odds, simply pressing on and willing to sacrifice everything to take out her enemies. However, she was also known for, even infamous for, her temper which was considered legendary among those who have served under her.

How Brandon had tamed that temper was beyond Shulk, though he supposed that saving her from her torture would help. Whatever the case, Brandon was an extremely lucky man.

A sentiment that Brandon didn't share at that moment as he was immediately slapped as soon as he entered the bridge then hugged. Then he received the verbal lashing of his life.

Of course, the crew pretended not to be listening in but did a poor job of concealing their interest. It was a rare sight to see for the hotshot pilot to be so cowed. Not only that but also a moment of respite from the admiral's rage being directed at them.

Despite their fear of their commanding officer, Nia was technically outranked by Brandon, though he rarely exercised his authority. This meant that the rules on the ship were created and enforced by Brandon, who's only real rule was don't be a dick. Nia, therefore, couldn't really do anything about the gossip that tended to spread rapidly throughout the ship, making rumors the most valuable commodity traded aboard the ship.

She always shot her subordinates disapproving glares but Brandon's laid back nature always relaxed Nia slightly.

She finally relented with a sigh. "Whatever happened on the mission, I'm just glad you're safe."

"I'm glad you're safe too," Brandon smiled softly, "don't know why my team's coms cut out. Fighting that Leviathan must have been difficult."

"You don't know the half of it!" Someone from Nia's crew shouted.

"Speaking of," Nia said, "why was it so difficult this time around? I didn't know that Leviathans knew how to use tactical short jumps."

"That's because this planet was under the command of a Hybrid."

"A Hybrid huh. No wonder." Nia slumped into her seat, "now I'm just thankful that we didn't take more losses. I guess I can't really blame you for being late then."

Brandon grumbled, "should have led with that," he sighed, "though it could have been a lot worse. We're just lucky we have experience fighting them. If this was just a year ago this damn campaign would have been over a month long."

"I know they're strong but there's no way they're that bad. Are they?"

Brandon sighed, "I literally dropped my Viking on top of it and it just shrugged it off. It's just a good thing that my small Protoss force was close enough to fight it while my team drew its attention."

"I swear to the Xel'Naga that we have the worst damn luck in existence."

"Hey," Brandon said optimistically, "at least we didn't run into Nova this time."

Nia felt a shudder run through her spine. The Dominion's top-ranked Ghost was a terrifying force to be reckoned with. She had encountered the Ghost exactly once while she was on the other side. Brandon's team had assaulted a top-secret Dominion experimental facility. An experimental facility that was trying to give humans enhanced animal traits. The experimental facility that had been conducting experiments on Nia, giving her now-iconic cat ears.

"At least we're on on the same side now," Nia shrugged, playing it off cooly.

"Yeah," Brandon grew tired of leaning on the console so he stole Nia's chair, who hadn't sat down after chewing out Brandon, "for the most part."

Nia just rolled her eyes and sat down in Brandon's lap. Brandon wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Why do we always have to be fighting?" Nia complained, "I swear the universe never want to give us break."

"You said it," Brandon muttered, "but we've got to take out the Feral Zerg before they grow too large. Not to mention the Tal'darim and the stupid Defenders of Man."

"I wonder though," Nia hummed.

"Hm?"

"Why can't Kerrigan just control all the Zerg?"

Brandon's eye twitched. An involuntary response despite himself. He knew that it was irrational but something about Raynor's alien bug girlfriend didn't sit right with him. It wasn't about looks, he couldn't really say anything about that with how his girlfriend was basically a cat. He was never quite able to put his finger on it though so he never commented, even when he worked directly under Raynor himself.

Nia had noticed the twitch. She stood up as Brandon was about to reply. Brandon was about to complain but Nia silenced him with a kiss. A kiss that was immediately interrupted with her crew's hooting and hollering.

Nia broke off the kiss and growled at her crew.

"It is currently twenty-two hundred hours!" she yelled. It looked like she was going to give them some kind of punishment but changed her mind at the look Brandon gave her, "as soon as you get the night shift up here you are all dismissed! I expect to see the lot of you nice and early tomorrow at oh seven hundred hours!"

The order was followed by a host of groaning.

"No complaining!" she snapped, "just be thankful that I'm not putting your sorry arses to cleaning duty!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Come on milady," Brandon placed a hand on her shoulder, guiding her out of the bridge.

"Bloody idiot," Nia grumbled, a wide smile planted on her face.

"If anything happens tell Elma!" She called over her shoulder, "she's in command."

Brandon looped his arm through Nia's as the two left the bridge.

* * *

"Any new news from up top?" Nia asked, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

"Nope. Nothing from the commander yet," Brandon shrugged as he slipped on a t-shirt, "we're just sticking to our current orders, explore until we encounter a wild Zerg pack, the Tal'darim, or the renegade groups."

"Ugh," Nia groaned, "we've been doing this for so long. I just want to settle down at some point."

"Yeah," he agreed, "can't wait to finally put down all of these insurrections."

"Hm, hopefully, you don't struggle as much against the next group," she teased.

"I could say the same to you."

"Eh, unless we face a pack of primal Hybrid controlled Leviathans, I should be fine."

"Confident, aren't you?" Brandon smirked back.

"Yeah, because of a year of experience."

"True enough, but I have more experience than you and even I'm not that confidant,"

"But you've got the best Micro combat out of most of the Dominion."

"And you've got the best Macro," Brandon said as he flopped onto the bed. Nia joined him. Brandon grinned as he rubbed one of Nia's cat ears.

Nia purred and snuggled up close. "Adorable."

"I am aren't I?"

Brandon laughed boisterously, "I love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

Boom!

The pair awoke to the massive Battlecruiser rumbling. An alarm started blaring.

"Huh-?" Brandon awoke blearily, "what the hell? Adjutant! What the hell is going on?"

"We are taking sustained laser fire. Our shields are at seventy percent."

"Call Elma!"

"Roger."

"God damn it!" Nia sprung to her feet and stumbled over to the bathroom. Brandon winced as he heard her bang into the door frame.

A hologram formed in front of Brandon, "Elma what's going on?"

"Sir! A Protoss force has opened fire on us."

"High Templar?"

"Negative, looks like Tal'darim."

Brandon grimaced as he hung up. "Hurry up!" Brandon yelled as he grabbed his gear and waited impatiently at the door.

"I'm trying!" Nia yelled as she struggled into her jumpsuit, hopping on one foot toward the door. The two started sprinting the moment Nia's head popped out of the head hole.

They burst onto the bridge to be greeted by a state of panic. Nia's officers were scrambling around, trying to ready weapons systems.

"Admiral on deck!" an officer yelled.

Every crew member snapped to attention for a moment before going back to what they were doing, the urgency still there but more focused.

"Elma! Status update!" Nia yelled.

"Shields at sixty percent!" Elma called back, "our missile pods are armed and our gunners are getting into position. Orders ma'am!"

"Damn," Nia muttered, "what are we facing?"

"A Tal'darim force! It looks like a short-range strike team! An invasion fleet."

"Short-range?" Brandon asked, "what planet are we closest to?"

"Uninhabited, on our star charts but its environment is too harsh for human life to be sustained."

"Shit," Brandon cursed, "they must have established a base. We're close to the capital so they must have been preparing for an invasion. Damn it! Notify the closest established Dominion outpost and scramble all fighters!"

Nia brought a hand to her chin, "they've already launched all interceptors though… get ready for an evasive short jump to point oh three at seventy-five degrees. Brandon?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Go."

Brandon nodded and ran for the hangar.

"On my mark… Mark!" The crew braced for the jump to warp space as the space around the ship distorted.

Brandon jumped into his Viking in preparation. The moment the Battlecruiser came out of warp space, the blast doors slid open, an energy shield replacing the thick Neosteel door. He felt the ship shudder as the Yamato cannon charged and fired.

"Go go go! All wings, launch! Alpha wing with me!" His Viking's engine charged up and launched his ship out the hangar. Their ships were swarmed by interceptors and Phoenixes almost instantly, having predicted the tactical jump and the first attack merely a feint. The two fleets threw all they had at each other but the sheer numbers and power of the Protoss vessels was immediately felt.

Brandon maneuvered his ship exactly as he should as an ace pilot, weaving between lasers and enemy fighters. He even transformed between walker and fighter modes to change the space taken up by his fighter to avoid different attacks.

"Alpha wing, stick to formation! Fan out, let them pass between us!" Brandon ordered.

He winced as he watched alpha two blow up from a well placed shot to his fuel tank. It stung every time someone under his command died, whether he was close to them or not.

"They're everywhere!" a voice screamed through the comms, "I can't shake them!"

"Hold on Alpha one! I've got your tail!"

"Alpha five close up, close up! You're drifting too far."

"There are too many inter-"

Brandon swerved, barely dodging a laser blast from an incoming Phoenix.

"Nia!" he yelled into the comms, "their fleet consists of just five carriers! They don't have any support ships."

"No flank?"

"No flank," Brandon said with certainty, "no Void Rays, no Tempests, no Oracles, Warp Prisms, or Arbiters. I don't get it but they've got Phoenixes and a couple of Corsairs though! Make sure you don't get hit by a disruption web!"

"Huh," Nia muttered, "what a joke, dodge a freaking disruption web. We're going to lose a couple of turrets each time."

Brandon cursed as he dodged past several Phoenixes. He transformed his Viking, using that transformation to turn his craft around and transformed his ship back, pursuing the enemy fighters. His missiles connected with one, blasting it to its elementary particles. The other three turned around effortlessly, seemingly warping the laws of physics as they made pinpoint turns, firing their laser weapons as they moved to the side.

Brandon grinned, finally a challenge. He transformed his ship, allowing him to turn to match the Phoenix's movements and revved the Gatling guns mounted on the "arms" of the mech, firing over five thousand rounds a minute, shredding even the reinforced shielding and armor of the Protoss forces.

"Brandon!" Nia's voice came through the comms, almost drowned out by the transformation drives.

"Our shields are down and the Phoenixes have started punching holes in our armor. We've got hull breaches all over the ship. They've started launching their Warp Prisms. Keep them off of us or we'll be fighting on two fronts."

"Copy that, command," Brandon moved his Viking slightly out of the battle, "the missile pods and laser batteries aren't enough to fend off the Warp Prisms! Get the Goliath's active. Turn on the magnetic feet and get them on the outside of the vessel!"

"Belay that!" Nia yelled, "this is one battle we're not going to win. We're outgunned, outnumbered, and caught off guard."

A set of coordinates was sent through to the navigation computers of each ship.

"Those are the coordinates to the rendezvous, The Aegis will short jump to these coordinates. I want every cloak capable fighter to cloak and retreat to this sector. I want the rest of our fighters to gather up as close together as you can without taking too many loses and we'll recall you out with our Protoss tech."

The Aegis was a specially designed Gorgon class Battlecruiser that had been extensively modded by Brandon through his years of being assigned to the ship. On top of that, once the Dominion had been freed from the tyrannical rule of Arcturus Mengsk, top Dominion scientists had been assigned to update the starship as a reward from Valerian Mengsk. Once the alliance with the High Templar of the Protoss, the ship was then modified further by the Protoss, adding in several key features, the Mass Recall drive proving to be the most valuable asset through the last several months.

"Shit! Our ship's defenses have been breached! We're getting several contact points! Brandon! Hurry it up!"

"For fucks sake," he muttered, "damn Protoss. Alpha wing, with me!" Brandon steered his ship back to the Battlecruiser and pushed his throttle to the limit. "Just hold on…"

He cursed as several other vikings were shot down. "Break up formation! Break up formation! Join up with the Valkyries and Liberators or we're all going down!"

He transformed his viking into walker form as he reached the hangar, sliding in on the metal feet of the ship. He jumped out of the craft as it screeched to a halt, his specialized marauder armor having assembled itself within the ship.

He felt the massive capital ship shudder under his feet as it jumped to warp drive. He glared at the blast doors as he watched a portion turn a deep red as the tip of a psi blade pierced the metal door and started melting through the reinforced metals.

Brandon aimed his grenade launcher at the door. "Looks like I'm fighting this out on my own." He grabbed several prebuilt auto turrets out of a nearby inactive raven and set them up around the spacious room.

He yelled a battlecry as the blast doors were sliced through by the advanced Protoss weaponry. He fired off the modified punisher grenades at the first Zealots charging through the door, the concussive shells stunning the charging troops and giving the turrets a chance to actually connect with the Protoss units. A laser bolt blasted out from the smoke, fusing part of his armor together.

Brandon winced at the near miss and charged directly at the door, colliding with the four legged walker head on. He slammed an arm into the chassis of the machine and blasted it at point blank range, scrapping the Protoss remnants.

He sprinted for the bridge. "Please be okay," he begged.

He screamed in rage as he blasted the Supplicants that were trying to wrench the doors open.

"Adjudant, open blast doors."

The doors slid open with a hiss.

"Oh thank god!" Brandon heard a clunk.

"Hit your head?"

"Yeah," Nia mumbled, refusing to let go of the bulky armor.

"Ma'am!" a voice called out, "we're detective a massive object coming out of warp space!"

"Mothership!" Someone screamed.

"Fuck. Warp now!"

The crew braced as the ship warped to the assigned coordinates. "Recall!"

A light emitted from the center of the Battlecruiser as all the cloaked vessels retreated back into the ship. A light surrounded the non-cloaking fighters, transporting them back into the Battlecruiser docks.

"That's it! We've got everyone!" Nia yelled, "Go! Warp to the closest Dominion stronghold!"

"Copy that, setting coordinates now."

"For fuck's sake," Brandon gaped as he stared out the windows.

"What? Oh shit."

The Mothership had warped in close to the Aegis and activated one of its most powerful abilities: Black Hole. The gravitational anomaly started pulling in the massive Battlecruiser. The only thing keeping the capital ship out of it was the Protoss advancements to the thrusters.

"Get us out of here!"

"Working on it ma'am! We're ago… now!"

Brandon braced as the ship jumped to warp space.

He sighed and sat down heavily.

"Get your fat arse up," Nia turned to the inventor, "we've still got movement on levels six to ten."

"Can't I just let Rex and the others take care of it?" Brandon whined, "they're the anti-boarding squad right now after all."

"All hands on deck."

"Fine," Brandon stood up and headed out of the bridge, "adjutant, seal blast doors."

"Copy."

* * *

Brandon grimaced as he fired off several grenades, destroying the mechanical Protoss Stalkers. One blinked away, dodging the grenade, only to be hit by an EMP then gunned down by several marines nearby.

Brandon continued forward with his small support team.

"Where's that damn Warp Prism?" he grumbled.

"There!" Rex pointed at the Protoss vessel.

"Open fire!"

The Prism lit up as it activated its defenses, warping in several Sentries, as well as firing its point defense cannon, striking Rex. Brandon wasn't too worried as Rex had a Psionic shield on top of his armor. The Sentries opened fire with their plasma cannons as well as creating force fields to block the Gauss rifle rounds.

Brandon rushed forward, using his advanced Marauder suit to destroy the force field, allowing the marines to blast the Sentries apart and peppered the Prism with holes, disabling the Protoss craft.

Brandon sighed, kneeling down next to a fallen marine, closing his eyes in respect. He heard a cough from the side and grinned.

"You good Rex?"

"Yeah," the muffled voice responded from the specialized Spectre helmet as the Spectre stood up, "we're about wrapped up here, this sector is clear."

"Alright. Felt the ship come out of warp space a little bit ago so I'm heading back up to the bridge."

"You just want to cuddle up with your girlfriend."

"Maybe," Brandon shrugged, "you'll never be able to prove it though."

"Ugh," Rex gagged, "I hope I'll never end up as whipped as you are."

"What? Who's whipped?"

Rex whistled innocently as he walked away.

"Damn it," Brandon muttered, jogging towards the barracks to get his armor taken off before heading up to the bridge, "that bastard."

"Hey Nia, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure."

"How are you not sure?"

"As in I have absolutely no idea where we are. We're in uncharted space and we can't tell if there are any inhabited planets nearby."

"Uncharted?"

Nia sighed, "yes, as in it's not on any of our star charts."

"Well then," Brandon put his hands on his hips, "I uh…"

"Yeah, that's pretty much my reaction."

"What are we supposed to do? This ship is running on hope and spit right now," Brandon cursed, "judging by the state of the halls, we've only got a couple of days before we have to set down for repairs."

"Yeah, we're doing a scanner sweep right now. We need a planet with an atmosphere and oxygen at least."

"Deep space?"

"Obviously."

"Did our Protoss friends make it?"

"Yeah, they've got their observers out scouting out the area. They're trying to get a signal out to Aiur but no luck so far. We can't seem to establish a connection to the Dominion either."

"How far out can we be?"

"Really freaking far is the answer."

"Ma'am," an officer called.

"Report?"

"We've got something, about three clicks out at fifty six twenty two."

"That was fast," Brandon remarked.

"A little too fast."

"Well the Protoss-"

"I know they're basically space wizards," Nia rolled her eyes, "but finding a planet suitable for human life this fast in uncharted territory on _top_ of having the resources for our repairs?"

"Seems like we got a lucky break then."

"Yeah," Nia pinched the bridge of her nose, "you're probably right and I'm probably just paranoid."

"Well we've trusted your instincts before and they've never let us down."

"Yeah, load of good my instincts did in that battle."

"You couldn't have predicted the Tal'darim but you're battle tactics are the only reason why we're still in one piece."

Nia sighed, "I'm so tired."

"I know what you mean. No rest for the weary though."

"Ma'am, clear for jump?"

"Clear, jump on my mark… Mark!"

"All these warp jumps are going to make me sick," Brandon groaned.

"Get used to it tough guy," she shrugged, unsympathetic, "at least we didn't have to go through a highway."

"Ugh."

"We're touching down in t minus twenty minutes ma'am. We just have to find a clearing."

"Alright slackers! Get prepped and ready for landing and setting up base camp," Nia ordered, "get those command centers up and running! I want every SCV not working on the Aegis setting up a base camp."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Alright Brandon, I'll coordinate up here, you gather the ground forces, we need to make sure that there's nothing hostile on this planet."

"Alright then," Brandon sighed, "Elma?"

"Yeah?"

"What do our scouting forces look like?"

Elma typed away furiously on her computer. "Our Hellion and Hellbat forces took heavy losses but we've still got slightly over a hundred Vulture speeders and our Reaper Corps are still fully functional."

"Gather our pilots and prep the Vultures. Give the Reapers a chance to rest."

"Yes sir- I mean uh-"

Brandon laughed, "you're good Elma. If it makes you that uncomfortable you can stay as formal as you want." He tapped the communicator on his wrist as he headed out of the bridge to the ramp hangar, "Rex?"

"Yeah?" the Spectre responded, "what's up?"

"Get your stuff, we're heading out."

"Alright."

"Oh right," he said, stopping right before ending the call, "grab Shulk as well, we don't know what's out there."

"Ah, so you just want our mind powers."

"Was that not obvious?" Brandon joked, "I don't want to head out into unknown territory without my terrifying little brother and his superpowered team."

Rex bellowed a laugh, "I don't think anyone on our Ghost or Spectre teams have the balls to face you though."

Brandon raised an eyebrow, "when you can crush any of my robots or armor with a thought?"

"More like they're all afraid you'll sick Nia on them."

"Dude, you've got to stop making those jokes," Brandon chuckled, "Nia's going to overhear you making them one of these days and you'll end up suffering her wrath."

"See, I make sure to only joke like that when she's not in earshot."

"You're taking into her super hearing I presume."

Rex's eyes widened slightly, though Brandon couldn't see. He, however, could hear the slow gulp from the other end.

"I presume you didn't then. How do you forget about the freaking cat ears?"

"I don't know," Brandon heard the sound of Rex facepalming, "I've just gotten so used to them so I just forgot."

"Well then," Brandon shook his head with over exaggerated mock sadness, "I wish you luck."

* * *

"Mount up," Brandon called as the ramp lowered, revealing the planet below them.

"Roger."

"Copy that," a chorus of voices responded.

"Move out." The motors of the Vultures roared with enthusiasm. Brandon's bike blasted forward into the unknown.

….

**Check out my twitch if you want to watch a Korean player be worse at Starcraft than you are. **

**twitch . tv / sparklehandss**


	2. Chapter 2: How are There Zerg Here?

Chapter 2: How are There Zerg Here?

**I like to go battlecruisers versus Protoss myself. I'm just bad vs protoss and my 17% winrate will attest to that. Seriously, if my TvP was even just 40% I would be comfortably in masters league.**

**Now on with the show!**

….

The only sound around for miles was the roaring of the Vulture squadrons out scouting every little nook and cranny they could find. Brandon had split the Vultures up into squads of four.

"Incredible," Brandon breathed as he finished his sweep, "this place could very well be mistaken for Earth several thousand years ago."

"I know," Rex yelled over the engines, his squad having met up with Brandon's on the way back to the base camp.

"How did you hear-" his lips drew tight into a line, "nevermind, forgot I'm talking to a telekinetic psycho."

"Hey! I take offense to that," Rex called back.

"Offense intended."

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?"

Brandon's only response was good natured laughing.

He was still laughing later when they finally reached their base camp, though it was from their continued banter. They stopped at the checkpoint and chatted with the guard before he lowered the reinforced metal wall of supply depots, allowing the squad back through.

Brandon couldn't stop himself from smiling like crazy as the gate lifted behind him.

"It always astounds me how fast our workers actually work," Brandon said, "those upgraded SCVs are insane."

"Yeah. Years of experience can do that I suppose," Rex shrugged, "it doesn't hurt that we can float down half of them."

"True, but our defenses are all built down here."

"Yeah, though why we set them up is beyond me."

"Actually yeah," Brandon scratched his head, "why did we set up defenses? I can understand sensor towers but why the turrets and bunkers?"

"Because our Protoss friends detected a Zerg spore," Nia explained as she popped out from the command center, "heard you just got back."

"They're here too?" he groaned, "there goes my good mood."

"Well as far as we can tell it's dormant so we don't have that much to worry about," she said, "it's mostly as a precaution."

"Because, of course, we all know about how good our luck is."

"Well, we're going to take care of it before it can spiral out of control as we make repairs," Nia said, "we might as well. Oh right," she tossed him a tablet, "apparently we're picking up human-like communications, there's definitely an intelligent species on this planet, though we have no idea what they are. I want your team to check it out."

"Hm, there's actually a signal coming from a nearby location," Brandon scratched his cheek.

"But it must have been out of our scouting range or we would have picked it up," Rex said, "that means that there are no psionics there either or I would have sensed them."

"Yeah," Nia nodded, "it's about seventy kilometers from the outer limits of our scouting. The signal itself isn't actually that strong and we only picked it up because we were doing a deep space scan so we don't think we were meant to pick it up."

"Well it's a sign of intelligent life. Worth checking out."

"Agreed. But probably best to wait till tomorrow," she put a hand on his shoulder, "you're probably dead tired right now."

"I wouldn't say no to some shut eye."

"Alright," she nodded, "you're dismissed."

Brandon started toward the barracks, Rex was about to follow when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Not you."

Rex scowled, "why not? I'm just as beat as him."

"We need you to be on guard. Any kind of disturbance, you notify me. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," he grumbled.

"Good."

Rex turned around to leave.

"Oh and Rex?"

He gulped.

"You're doing every punishment I have in the books."

Rex shuddered, "but what about keeping an eye out?"

"You'd better be able to multi-task then."

"Oh for crying out loud! Cut me a break!"

"I could," Nia grinned, "but where would be the fun in that. And if it makes you feel any better," Rex perked up, "Brandon's getting what's coming to him as well."

* * *

"I think you've made your point," Brandon panted.

"Nah," Nia said, "ten more should do it."

"Why?!" he groaned, barely completing the ten extra push ups.

"Look at it this way," she grinned, getting off of his back as he collapsed, "you didn't get it nearly as bad as Rex did."

"How did you even know?"

"Maybe it was my super hearing."

"Uh yeah," Brandon narrowed his eyes, "definitely not, even if Rex forgot about it, I didn't. I know what your hearing range is and you were definitely out of earshot. I was joking about that to make him uncomfortable."

Nia chuckled, "yeah, I was listening in on your communicators."

"What?! That's a violation of privacy!"

"Not that it matters to you."

"Well… no… but, well, I didn't know that you even knew how to pull that off," he winced, "no offense."

"That's what you're worried about?" she said, "state of emergency gives me the authority over all communication."

"You asked Stetmann about this, didn't you?" Brandon facepalmed.

"... So what?"

"I'm going to have a _word_ with him if you catch my drift."

Nia giggled, "you couldn't pull off scary if it slapped you across the face."

"No," he admitted, "but I've got some decent blackmail."

"Blackmail on an insane man? How?"

"You'll never know."

"Really?" Nia shrugged, "I can always figure out some other way."

"Hm…" Brandon tapped his chin in jest, "I doubt it."

"And why's that?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. But what I do know is that you have to get him to talk first."

"Ugh, I don't know how you're able to plan ahead like this," she slumped in defeat.

"Plan ahead?" he rolled his eyes, "it's basic common sense. I swear, you're able to predict what will happen hours ahead in combat but you can't see what I'll say next if I broadcasted it over your head."

"Oi! I'll have you know I was locked in a lab for most of my life. Not much of a chance to socialize there."

"And yet somehow you captured me," he gave her a goofy grin.

"Hm," she hummed, "I thought it was the other way around."

"Was it?" he smirked, "all I remember is immediately falling for the silver haired girl I rescued. Then you bit me as I recall."

Nia went red before punching his arm.

Brandon laughed as he dodged nimbly out of the way.

"Stay still and let me hit you," she muttered with puffed up cheeks.

Brandon compiled but when Nia swung again he easily blocked the strike and pulled her into a kiss. Nia went even redder.

"I love you."

She smiled, despite the fiery blush across her face, "and I you."

"Well then, come on! I've got something to show you," he grabbed her hand and started walking at a brisk pace. Nia laughed as she stumbled along, "slow down!"

"Speed up old lady!"

"Old lady?! I'll show you an old lady…!"

* * *

"Whoa."

"I know right?"

The view was incredible, the sunlight dispersing a beautiful red as it set behind a mass of trees. The two had decided to make a date out of it and set up a picnic on a hill near the base. Of course Rex had insisted that the two sit inside siege range, but it was good enough for the two.

"If only we weren't sitting in the shadow of a liberator."

"Eh, as long as it's something I'm actually familiar with," she shrugged, "at least it's not one of those stupid experimental Dominion weapons or ships."

"I would like one of their experimental battlecruisers to warp in overhead and save us."

"You would know wouldn't you."

"Hardly," he rolled his eyes, "as awesome as the stuff is, they don't tell me much about it. You would think you would know more, being a high rank and all."

"They're not crazy enough to give me those weapons."

Brandon laughed, "nor me."

"But didn't you work on some of them?"

Brandon shrugged, "kind of, more like suggested things from my old physics days. I can't wait to see what kind of FTL stuff and gravity weapons they finish."

"You're kidding. Gravity weapons?"

"Yeah, a single pulse from one of those cannons on max can shred a planet. Theoretically of course, which are based off of my calculations, which are probably wrong."

"You, wrong?" she elbowed him playfully.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up."

"Guys!" A voice crackled through the short range comms.

"God damn it Rex," Brandon groaned, "what is it? You know we were-"

"This is important, you _really_ want to hear what our Protoss friends are saying."

Brandon and Nia shared a nervous look. "Okay, we're heading over."

* * *

"What is it?"

'We are not only in uncharted territory,' the Protoss' voice echoed through Brandon's head, 'but we are out of range of even Protoss communications.'

"What the hell happened to our warp drive?"

Nia tapped the smart watch on her wrist, "adjudant, get our best engineers on our warp drive."

'We shall send our best phase smiths as well.'

"Thanks, Kax. We owe you one," Nia said.

'A pleasure to be of service,' the Protoss High Templar nodded.

"Shit," Brandon ran a hand through his hair as he walked away with Nia, "how far out are we if we're out of Protoss comm range?"

"I don't know but I get the feeling that your super battlecruiser isn't going to be showing up any time soon."

"I think you're right."

"How fucked do you think we are?"

"Very."

"Well then, we- wait…"

"What?"

She slapped her forehead, "there's still Zerg on this planet."

"Right. We have to fight off an entire colony with no repairs or backup," he sighed, "how badly could that go?"

"The bright side is that they don't seem to have noticed us yet or we'd already have been swarmed with something."

"That's not always a bright side, they could be one of those hives that focus on quality rather than quantity."

"I swear if we are dealing with that kind of Zerg…"

"It's hypothetical of course but if we are, we may just have to break out some of our heavy stuff. Also there was a hint of intelligent life on this planet. If they're still around it's likely that this colony is either dormant or recently established."

"Let's hope for the first one."

"Before you guys worry even more-"

Nia yelped and sprang into Brandon's side. Brandon sighed, "how many times do I need to tell you to do something to warn us before decloaking?"

"Sorry," Shulk seemed genuinely sheepish.

"You're good," Brandon said, really meaning it. Rex probably would have been cackling gleefully. "What's up?"

"I've reached out psionically. I think I've just managed to graze the swarm. I think Kerrigan now has a basic understanding."

"Holy shit," Brandon breathed, "looks like we won't be stuck in this situation for long then."

Shulk shook his head, "I don't know how much you know about psionics but if I could barely make contact with a swarm under Kerrigan's control, we are very far away from the Koprulu sector."

"We can last for a while. We should be fine."

"We can wait, as long as those Zerg don't find us."

"That might be an issue," Rex said, "they've definitely detected our, or well my psionic presence here."

"They haven't reacted to us yet?"

"Not yet, but I'm pretty sure that the colony is relatively fresh, a feral queen was just established here."

"What could have established it?" Brandon wondered aloud.

"Probably an old Zerg spore that was dormant until something disturbed it. I'll bet something from the Broodwar days, no reason for it to be here during the more recent war."

"I thought all feral Zerg were from Broodwar and before."

"Apparently there were some from the last conflict. Mostly Zerg under Amon's control that were never reassimilated into the swarm."

"Huh."

"But this spore does feel different. I'm not sure about it. Something about it just feels… wrong."

"Ooh, space magic tinglies," Brandon said sarcastically, "Zerg is Zerg. We'll burn them out sooner or later."

Rex gave him a wary look, "just be careful. We don't know what we're going up against."

"When am I not?"

Even Shulk shot him a look for that.

"What?" He looked around, "I'm not as impulsive as Rex."

"You're also the guy with the keys to a Thor," Shulk said.

"That's… you know what, that's fair enough," he laughed, "though I'd say that a Viking is worse than a Thor. You can't really maneuver a Thor."

"How the hell did you ever manage to get pilot's licenses for those things?"

"Comes with the territory," Brandon shrugged, "I can't pop things with my brain like you can, nor can I plan out a battle like Nia can."

"How many times do I have to tell you that's not how it works," Shulk raised a hand before Brandon could say anything, "even if it's technically true."

"What? That doesn't even make sense."

"Space magic," Rex said wiggling his fingers, mocking Brandon from the side.

Rex laughed, dodging as Brandon tried to cuff him.

"Ugh, whatever," Brandon scoffed, "I'm heading to bed."

"Don't let the Zerg bite!" Rex shot off one last teasing call before heading in himself.

….

**So this chapter is a little messy because I did half of it months and months ago then just recently finished it up, so I honestly even forgot what happened in it… which means that I'm going to have to come back at some point and tidy it up. Until then, it's going to be a little bad and a little messy.**

**Twitch . tv / sparklehandss if you want to watch a Korean dude suck at starcraft 2.**


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